Reading is Fundamental
But, good spelling is a little trickier!
Well, I finished that intellectual challenge, Airtight Willie & Me this weekend. It was actually a fairly good book. Though, as I got further into it, I was a little surprised to see that it was actually a series of not really related stories. The book takes its title from the first story, which is about a scam artist getting out of jail and being scammed himself by his partner. The O. Henry-like irony is actually quite sophisticated. Well, considering the source. Seriously, it’s a little strange considering my normal reading, but that’s why I chose that book. It’s a look at life from a perspective that I will, hopefully, never see or truly understand. It’s different. It’s a change. And, obviously, based on the length of time it took me to read it, not a very long book, either.
Currently, I’m reading Plot for about the third or fourth time. I go back to this book, and others in this series, when I have trouble writing. So, I read it every few years when I try to start writing again after a long hiatus. That’s where I’m at right now, ergo, I’m re-reading selected writing books to try and get jump-started back into a writer’s mind. We’ll see how we do in the coming months.
After that, though, I’ll be reading Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. (Literary enough for you, Mark? 🙂 ) The description interests me because a fictional language is at the heart of the story and I’ve long had a fascination for invented languages. So, I’m looking forward to it.
What kind of writing are you doing? I have always said that I hate to write, so it is funny that I have a blog. A teacher once told me that I write well when I am discussing a subject that is personal to me. I don’t know about that….. I do know that some days I don’t have the patience to even write blog entries.
Comment by Laurie — 6/13/2005 @ 7:58 pm
Oh, fiction mainly, but it’s been hard to focus on it with all the change and craziness in my personal life. You can see some of what I’ve done at http://www.fantasist.net/scroll/ Just look for the “Original Fiction” category.
Comment by the Network Geek — 6/13/2005 @ 8:45 pm
Oh, I just got that you meant “what kind of fiction are you writing”! Mainly fantasy and science-fiction, though I do some horror, too. (Note, that’s “horror” not “horrific”.) Oh, by the way, you can see my fiction that’s online here.
Comment by the Network Geek — 6/16/2005 @ 2:39 pm